Get out your butter and egg 15 minutes prior to preparing your dough. This gives them some time to get to room temperature.
Optional: Finely toast whole, dry spices before blending for best results. Add whole spices to a pan on the stovetop and heat on low until fragrant, then remove from the heat. If using whole spices grind them up in a spice grinder until fine.
Sift flour, salt and baking soda together into a bowl. Set aside.
Cut butter into one inch cubes.
Beat butter on medium in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment until it’s light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Turn to high. Gradually add in sugar to the butter a little bit at a time.
Once sugar is incorporated reduce the speed of your stand mixer to low. Add egg, pumpkin puree and vanilla extract.
Reserve ¼ tsp of spice blend and set aside. Add remaining 2 ¾ tsp spice blend to the stand mixer.
Adjust speed and beat on medium low until the mixture is smooth, 1-2 minutes.
Turn off your stand mixer. Slowly and gently fold dry ingredients into the bowl with a spatula, taking care not to overwork the dough.
Roughly chop pecans. Fold in pecans and chocolate chips by hand if desired.
Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. The longer you rest the dough, the better your cookies will be. You can chill dough for up to 3 days in advance.
Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Line a baking sheet with a Silpat baking sheet. You can also opt for parchment paper. Do not grease your sheet as this can cause cookies to burn.
Take out your dough 15 minutes prior to baking so it can come to room temperature.
Use a spoon to dole out 2 tablespoons of dough two inches apart on the sheet.
Bake at 350 F for 17-21 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Move cookies to a rack and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
If desired make the glaze by combining powdered sugar, milk of your choice, maple syrup, your choice of extract(s), ¼ tsp reserved spice blend and a pinch of sea salt.
Let cool for at least 15 minutes.
Add glaze to the corner of a Ziplock bag. Cut out a small edge and pipe glaze over cookies. Let cool to set glaze before serving.
Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or eggnog!
Leave a comment
All comments are moderated before being published.
This site is protected by hCaptcha and the hCaptcha Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.